


Countdown

by Asylos



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Anniversary, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21876859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asylos/pseuds/Asylos
Summary: After a specific date is mysteriously marked on his home calendar, Reeve celebrates an anniversary he hadn’t known would be remembered.(Gaia Santa fic)
Relationships: Chaos (Compilation of FFVII)/Reeve Tuesti, Reeve Tuesti/Vincent Valentine
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22
Collections: FF7 Secret Santa 2019





	Countdown

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EvilRobotCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilRobotCat/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Restricted Work] by [EvilRobotCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilRobotCat/pseuds/EvilRobotCat). Log in to view. 



> I wanted to do so much more for you my friend but life refused to cooperate. I hope you can still find some enjoyment in this.

Reeve snorted and unconsciously adjusted his head where it rested on his arm, a small trickle of drool dripping into his papers. The Cait Sith sitting on the desk shook his head and pulled the blanket further up on the sleeping engineer’s shoulders, and moved the cold cup of coffee out of range so it wouldn’t be knocked over if the man moved again. The cat pat the sleeping man’s head, and hoped Vincent would be home soon to put an end to this latest streak of overworking. 

Three days passed, much the same, before the pattern was broken by a shadow falling over the desk. “Back already?” the Cait Sith asked. There was no doubt who could have snuck in that quietly, or who had the other key. 

The red cloaked figure nodded. “We took care of the problem.” He tilted his head towards the sleeping figure. 

The cat nodded back, “Been ‘ere all week o’course.”

With one smooth motion the figure bent down and picked Reeve up out of the chair, cradling him against his chest. The engineer didn’t stir, except to curl closer to him with a contented noise. 

“I’ll lock up behind ye,” the cat muttered after them as they left without a word. 

—-  
Reeve woke with a start and batted at the papers touching his face. When someone grabbed his hand he realized they weren’t papers but strands of hair. He opened his eyes. “Vincent,” he said softly. “You’re home.”

“With observation skills like those it’s a wonder you haven’t made the Turks,” Vincent said dryly. 

Redness coloured Reeve’s cheeks. “You can let go now.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good tactical move. You were flailing quite a bit, it could be dangerous.”

“You can expect a man to be a bit confused when he wakes up somewhere different from where he went to sleep.”

“And who’s fault is it that you were sleeping at your desk instead of in your bed, where one is supposed to be sleeping?” Vincent prodded. 

“Oh, hush,” Reeve said, leaning over to give Vincent a kiss. “I will not be lectured on an empty stomach. I’m going to make breakfast.”

—

“Vincent dear, why is this date next week circled on the calendar?”

Vincent glanced over from where he was sitting, but he already knew seeing the calendar wasn’t going to shed any light on the question. He shrugged. “A birthday perhaps?”

Reeve shook his head, “I don’t think so.” He pulled out his PHS and scrolled through it. “I don’t have anything down for that date. No meetings or anything either.”

“It’s your calendar, I don’t put anything on it. Maybe someone circled it when they were visiting? Better leave it clear just in case.”

He tapped the calendar forcefully, nearly knocking it from the fridge, but it refused to give up its secrets. With a sigh he added a “???” to the calendar in his PHS. Then he flopped onto the couch and lay his head in Vincent’s lap. The gunman stared down at him stoically, but pet his head with his ungauntleted hand. “Tell me about your trip. I assume you and Cloud saved the day, as per usual.”

Vincent nodded, “Of course.”  
—  
When Reeve walked past the calendar the next morning, the circled date now had a starburst drawn around it, and this irritated him to no end. Vincent denied having touched the calendar, and Reeve had no reason to believe he was lying. 

It bothered him even more when the next day there was a series of stars around it. And the next day he nearly snapped his pencil in half when he went to write something in and found yet more accents decorating the date. Vincent wasn’t home for him to complain to that time, but the ex-Turk assured him there was no way someone was breaking into their home to assault their calendar. The night before the marked date, Reeve went to sleep with a sense of dread, but the day passed completely uneventfully. 

— 

Reeve shivered and reached for his blanket. When his fumbling fingers found something cold and wet instead, he opened his eyes. Then he squeezed them shut again. Then open. Then closed. He did this several times, and yet the scene before him did not change. He sat up, and wiped the snow off of his torso and out of his hair. “What in the name of Chaos?”

“What indeed.”

Reeve spun around, awkwardly since he was still sitting in the snow, and found the very devil himself standing behind him. The weapon held out a hand and Reeve took it, getting to his feet. “It was you who was marking up the calendar. Why? Where are we?”

Chaos grabbed him roughly by the chin. “Surely someone as meticulous as you would remember this date. And this place. It is an important anniversary to us both.”

Looking around at the snow and ice that seemed to go on forever, the chill settling into his bones and, the frost filling his lungs, the memories suddenly returned. Blood on the bright white snow as it fell from Vincent’s chest. The vlakorados’ tail as it cut the man in two. The unseen blow that struck him unconscious. And the first proper meeting with Chaos that had followed when the weapon had held his life in clawed hands. Their first date, as it were. A grin spread slowly across Reece’s face. “I didn’t take you for the sentimental type.”

Chaos bristled, wings twitching with irritation that he quickly stilled through great effort. “Perhaps I just wish to undo the mistake I made then of leaving you alive.”

Reeve’s smile fell in an instant, the feelings of that meeting flooding back this time, no need for the clear memories attached. The loss, the sadness, the crushing (if misplaced) guilt and self blame. “If the time for you to collect has come, then so be it. We both know I deserve whatever you bring.”

Chaos shivered, the vibration traveling along his claws to where they still held tightly to Reeve. “Oh yes, my little morsel, I shall give you everything you deserve, but I am not done with you yet. Your glorious end is still long off. Tonight we will visit the shelter you sought that fateful day and you shall have but a taste of the destruction your soul desires. And then you will make breakfast.”


End file.
